Dear Reader,
It’s not until I catch a cold or come back from a loud concert that I realize how difficult it can be to live with an impaired sense. Not being able to taste or smell can make a week-long cold unbearable — I just love food too much. A home-cooked meal sends my senses through the roof.
Unfortunately, years of blaring my headphones, going to concerts and grinding my teeth every night since I was little has caused hearing loss in both my ears. My television volume is usually set …

Video by Liv Henry and Mark Stayton

KLIPSUN IS 40

Story by Andrea Sperberg

Graphics by Sars Richardson

On one side of the room is an old gray cabinet that holds volumes of yearbooks from Western’s history. Black-and-white and color photographs jump out of the pages of the 1970 Klipsun yearbook displaying student protests, music, laughing couples and empty desks. It was a time of protesting the Vietnam War and it was the final year Klipsun would be a yearbook.

-ONLINE EXCLUSIVE-

Story by Eriver Eugenio

Photos by Lillian Furlong

Tim Clendaniel drives his Mustang down the freeway at night as rain pours down. Suddenly, his bald tires hit a patch of ice at 60 mph and the car begins to move sideways toward the guardrail. His heart starts pumping rapidly and the adrenaline kicks in. Clendaniel’s mind becomes clearer and time starts slowing down.

Video by Daniel Berman

-ONLINE EXCLUSIVE-

Story by Jessica Bader

For those with tension headaches, insomnia or high stress levels, a drop of lavender oil on the pillow or a warm towel draped over the face may be more or as effective as popping an aspirin or a sleeping pill. For a too-full stomach after a meal, a few drops of peppermint in a glass of water or inhaled through the nose may be the answer. Late-afternoon lethargy may be energized with a whiff of wild orange or lemon, rather than another cup of coffee or an energy drink.

THE DEAF COMMUNITY CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY IN MODERN SOCIETY

Story by Sarah Smith

Photos by Lillian Furlong

In one sense, deaf people live in two worlds: the hearing world, where silence is a sound and syllables carry information, and the deaf world, where music and voices are vibrations, where imagination and motion are language, and where a person’s quest for communication is exacerbated.

Story by Carly Vester

Photo by Carey Rose

Sunny days in the Western residence halls have one downside: leave the screenless windows open, and it is an invitation for little buzzing insects to fly in. As warm weather lingers, one can often hear complaints about these insects that get trapped inside rooms. While bees may bob and bumble the same way humans fumble down the stairs in the dark, they actually have a better sense of direction than we do, even with a GPS right in front of our faces.

DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO MAKE CENTS?

Story by Paige Collins

Photo illustration by Lillian Furlong

They are thrown in fountains, left on sidewalks and pressed into souvenirs. They are said to bring good luck and are flipped to make decisions. Pennies are part of everyday American life, but the iconic little red cent has raised some debate over its relevance.

Story by Carly Vester

Photo illustrations by Jeff Emtman

The city has fallen under a cloak of darkness. All is still as Western senior Abell Teckle looks over the sleeping city with hungry eyes. He realizes that tonight, in this dream, he is a vampire. He and his comrades awaken the city and begin to pillage in Teckle’s favorite lucid dream to date.